Chapter 16
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Overnight the snow returned. We all awoke to a thick layer of snow outside and giant snowflakes pattering against the windows. My bed was warm and cosy, so I allowed myself to spend an extra twenty minutes in it.
Propping up my pillows behind me I took out my phone and saw that the Met Office had issued several weather warnings in the area. Waiting for me in my email inbox were a slew of job application rejections which made me groan. My redundancy money would soon come to an end, and I would be forced to use my savings if I didn’t find work.
On the general family WhatsApp chat Maddie had shared several photos of the fabulous house Frank had hired out for their Christmas in Malibu. It commanded a view across the shimmering blue ocean and was hemmed in by palm trees.
In one Maddie was standing by the pool like a swimwear model with her enviable slim figure and her golden curly hair. My sister looked relaxed and happy. Her bikini was a gorgeous burnt orange colour and reminded me of the bedding I was laid on. Our cousin Fay had been busy reviewing the photos overnight and had posted:
Great pics, Maddie. I bet Rachel is jealous as hell seeing these whilst caring for Grandpa and your dog back in Harp Brook.
‘Fay, mind your own business,’ I murmured, stopping myself from replying to Fay’s comment with something salty and inflammatory.
Distracting myself, I moved on to Facebook and saw that I’d been accepted by the admin to join the Harp Brook town group. Scrolling down I saw Darren’s post about Humphrey from yesterday.
The face of Ben, the builder, appeared in my mind. I recalled the moment on the doorstep from the day before and the run-in we had in the kitchen about Grandpa borrowing Frank’s suit. His green eyes, square jaw, his smile and his smart-ass comments made my heartbeat quicken. Before I had the chance to think about what I was doing I was searching for him on Facebook, I wanted to know more about him. He was bound to have a pretty wife or girlfriend.
The email from Olivia’s friend appeared in my mind. He had been called Ben and he’d lived in Surrey. I dismissed the thought. Ben is a popular name and there must be loads of Bens in Surrey. What was I doing? I stopped myself and closed Facebook. Feeling embarrassed at myself I got up and went for a shower.
Grandpa and Layla were already downstairs when I entered the kitchen. Layla smiled and pointed to the construction sheet. ‘The builders are here early. I opened the gates.’ Sounds of the radio and Ben laughing with Tom drifted out.
Grandpa cast me a weak smile. Humphrey was pretending to be asleep in his basket by the table. He slyly opened one eye as I walked past.
‘You okay, Grandpa?’
He rose from his chair. ‘Take a seat and I’ll put the kettle on.’
Layla waved at us both. ‘I’ve got to go get Zac up as I am cleaning the pub. See you later.’
Once Grandpa had made a pot of tea and I’d made some homemade pancakes covered in fruit and maple syrup, we settled at the kitchen table. He let out a heavy sigh after eating a raspberry rolled in a piece of pancake. ‘I didn’t like the way Dorothy’s daughter led her away so quickly.’ He scratched his fluffy white hair. One side was in desperate need of a comb. ‘Dorothy and I had a connection.’
‘You both were fabulous dancers,’ I said, remembering them looking like professional ballroom dancers. ‘You had perfect posture and I think if you’d been on Strictly, you would have got nines and tens. When did you learn to dance like that?’
He leaned back in his chair. ‘I used to go to dances regularly with your nana. She’d had ballroom dancing lessons as a girl, and she taught me everything. Back in the day we even won a few competitions.’
I remembered Nana teaching me to cook in her kitchen. She was a great teacher, but she didn’t hold back with her feedback. There were a few times when she pointed out my baking skill weaknesses and I’d run off to have a little cry. ‘I bet Nana was a tough teacher at dancing.’
Grandpa chuckled. ‘I lived in fear of putting a foot wrong.’
We ate some more pancakes, and I thought about Nana and Grandpa being ballroom competition winners. Mum never told us much about Nana and Grandpa’s lives before they had children. ‘I wish I’d known Nana had been into ballroom dancing back when we were little.’
Grandpa nodded. ‘At least you got a chance yesterday to see me in action. I need to tell you something?’
‘Yes?’
‘I think I’m in love with Dorothy.’
I stared at him. How could he go from reminiscing about Nana to revealing his love for Dorothy in the blink of an eye? He reminded me of my youngest cousin, Stanley, who was always telling Aunt Polly he loved a different girl at university each week. ‘In love? Really? After one Christmas Tea Dance?’
He nodded. ‘When you’re my age, Rachel, you don’t have time to mess about. I would like to see Dorothy again.’
I let out a silent groan. This was all I needed – a lovesick grandfather.
‘She feels the same way.’
‘Grandpa let’s slow down,’ I said, raising my hands. ‘We don’t know anything about Dorothy and–’
He interrupted me. ‘I might not be here next Christmas, Rachel. None of us know how long we have left in God’s waiting room. I might drop down dead tomorrow.’
‘Grandpa, don’t talk like that.’
‘It’s true. Rachel, I want you to organise a second date for me with Dorothy before Christmas. I am free the rest of this week and next week.’
I needed to distract him. ‘We need to pop the suit back in Frank’s wardrobe.’
‘Oh, well… we might have a problem there.’
My heart began to pound. ‘A problem with the suit?’
Grandpa nodded. ‘I didn’t say last night when you were helping me out of it but there’s a tear in one of the trouser legs.’
My heart went berserk. He’d torn one of Frank’s expensive suits. ‘What? You’ve torn Frank’s suit? Why didn’t you say?’
He fidgeted in his seat. ‘You looked tired, and we’d had enough emotion for one day. I felt it go as I twirled Dorothy around.’
In my head I could see Frank holding up his torn suit trouser leg and demanding I pay him thousands of pounds to repair it and asking why I had disobeyed him. My heart began to thud. What the hell was I going to do?
‘There’s also something else.’
I groaned. ‘What?’
‘I found something in the inside jacket pocket.’
‘Like what?’
He got up from the table. ‘I’ll be back.’
Panic set in as I glanced at the snow falling on the Velux windows. With all the snow, how would I get Frank’s trousers fixed?
With a flick the construction sheet opened, and Ben stepped into the kitchen. ‘Any chance of a cuppa?’
The memory from yesterday where he’d made that silly comment about whether it was wise for me to let Grandpa borrow Frank’s suit rushed back to me. For a few seconds I considered telling him to make the tea himself, but I decided to be the bigger person and rose from the table to switch on the kettle.
Ben pointed at Humphrey. ‘You found him yesterday?’
‘Yes, he took a lonely widow to the Senior Tea Dance.’
Ben looked a little surprised. ‘Really?’ He scratched his head. ‘How did he do that?’
I explained about Dorothy and how Humphrey had brought down a silver shoe from her wardrobe.
‘I heard your grandfather say he’d torn Mr Baxter’s trousers.’ He arched one of his eyebrows at me, which was infuriating.
‘Why are you earwigging on my conversations?’
He shrugged. ‘You both speak in loud voices so…’
‘Haven’t you got enough building work to be getting on with?’ I interrupted him and raised my eyebrow at him.
‘I bet you’re worrying about getting that torn suit trouser mended?’
I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of knowing the torn trouser leg was on my mind. ‘No, I’m not,’ I lied. ‘My brother-in-law will be cool with it.’
‘Cool?’ Ben questioned. ‘He doesn’t strike me as the kind of guy who would be cool with you and your grandfather vandalising his suit.’
A red filter slipped in front of my eyes. ‘We were not vandalising his suit.’
Ben’s eyes left my face and were focused on something behind me. Shock swept over his face. I felt a tap on the shoulder. I whirled around to see Grandpa holding up a pair of fluffy pink… handcuffs. ‘I found these.’
‘Oh God, Grandpa,’ I gasped, snatching them from him. They were the last thing I expected Grandpa to find in Frank’s pocket. ‘Let’s put these away.’
I turned to Ben who was looking awkward. ‘Excuse me, whilst I deal with this.’
‘I’ll make my own cuppa then.’
‘Come on, Grandpa, let’s go sort this issue out,’ I said, gesturing for us to leave the kitchen. My face felt red hot. Ben did not need to see a pair of fluffy pink handcuffs. What must he think of us?
‘I had to show you them,’ hissed Grandpa, as we entered the hallway.
‘Grandpa, let’s put them back,’ I said, feeling uncomfortable. Guilt nibbled away at me. ‘We should never have borrowed Frank’s suit. Whatever Frank and my sister get up to in their spare time is none of our business.’
Once we had put the handcuffs back into the pocket of the suit and I’d sweated profusely at the noticeable tear in the trouser leg, Grandpa suggested we go play cards in the living room. He raised his hands. ‘No cheating, I promise. You look like you need to calm down. My news about Dorothy must be shocking.’
I sent Grandpa a look of bewilderment. It wasn’t his newfound love for Dorothy that had produced the damp patches under my arms – it was the damage to Frank’s suit, which probably cost hundreds of pounds, even thousands; plus the memory of Grandpa holding up fluffy pink handcuffs in front of the builder.
We sat down and started to play. ‘I will never forget your nana Edith, Rachel.’
‘I know that, Grandpa,’ I said, surveying the dire hand of cards he’d dealt me.
‘We haven’t been here in Harp Brook that long, but I already feel like a new man,’ Grandpa said, studying his cards. ‘I have my energy back and it’s been fun to have a laugh and a giggle with you and Layla. Yesterday at the Tea Dance, I felt like a young man again.’ He looked up from his cards. ‘Rachel, I want to say thank you.’
‘I haven’t done anything.’
He shook his head. ‘You’ve done more for me in a couple of days than your aunty Karen and uncle Rob have done for me in years. Back home, I feel ancient and alone. Here, I feel alive and ready for adventure. Dorothy and I have a future together.’
‘Grandpa, I don’t want you to rush into anything with Dorothy. Take it slowly. You’ve only known her for five minutes.’ I was sounding more like a mother talking to her lovesick teenage son than a granddaughter to her grandpa.